Storage card adapters are useful for securely housing a printed circuit board (PCB) having a plurality of storage cards connected thereto and providing a mechanism for easily connecting the PCB and associated storage cards into a drive bay. Some storage card adapters are used for housing a PCB and a plurality of M.2 storage cards.
When M.2 storage cards are housed within a storage card adapter, a problem commonly faced is the heat given off by the plurality of M.2 storage cards. In order to cool the interior space of the storage card adapter, many different features can be provided. For example, storage card adapters are typically provided with heat sinks, heat fins, and various other geometries specifically designed to draw heat away from the M.2 storage cards and out of the storage card adapter.
Another feature that is sometimes used to cool storage cards within a storage card adapter are thermal pads. Thermal pads generally reside directly against the top and bottom surfaces of M.2 storage cards housed inside of a storage card adapter. This direct contact helps to draw heat away from the storage cards. It is known that thermal pads are generally more efficient at drawing heat away from storage cards when they are pressed firmly against the M.2 storage cards. However, it is sometimes difficult to achieve a desired amount of compressive force on the thermal pads using conventional storage card adapters. It can also sometimes be difficult and uncomfortable for a user to accomplish the desired amount of compressive force using previously known mechanisms for securing a cover to a carrier frame of a storage card adapter to thereby achieve the desired compressive forces. Accordingly, a need currently exists for a storage card adapter that is capable of applying a high amount of compressive force on thermal pads housed within the storage card adapter and that is also easy for a user to apply the compressive force.
The headings provided herein are for convenience only and do not necessarily affect the scope or meaning of the claimed embodiments. Further, the drawings have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be expanded or reduced to help improve the understanding of the embodiments. Moreover, while the disclosed technology is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail below. The intention, however, is not to unnecessarily limit the embodiments described. On the contrary, the embodiments are intended to cover all suitable modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the embodiments as defined by the appended claims.